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World Series

Fox Sports continues to see ratings gains over last year for the 2013 World Series.

Last night’s Game 4, in which the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-2, delivered a 9.4 rating and a n audience of 16 million viewers, up 6% in rating and 3% in viewership over last year’s series clinching Game 4.

Through four games, the 2013 World Series on Fox is averaging an 8.4 rating and 14 million viewers, up 11% in rating and 10% in viewership over last year’s 7.6 rating nd 12.7 million viewers.

Fox Sports announced today that Game One of the 2013 World Series earned an average rating of 8.6 and 14.4 million viewers, up 13% and 18% respectively over the 2012 Fall Classic.

More details from Fox Sports PR:

Last night’s game propelled the network to a first place finish in primetime television Wednesday night, averaging an 8.9/14 from 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM. That marks FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched primetime broadcast of the season and the network’s most-watched primetime broadcast since January for American Idol.

Last night’s game opened with a 7.8/13 which was 16% ahead of last year’s initial tune-in (6.7/11). Ratings peaked at a 9.6/15 with 16.3 million viewers at 9:30 PM ET, as the Red Sox built an insurmountable lead.

According to figures released by Nielsen SocialGuide, Twitter activity for last night’s World Series Game 1 also saw impressive increases over 2012. The game drew over 793,000 tweets (up +6% from 2012 World Series Game 1) from more than 360,000 unique authors (up 12%) and was the No. 1 social telecast of the night in all categories.

Boston led all markets with a 39.7/61, the highest mark for a Red Sox game since Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS, followed by St. Louis’ 36.0/54. Providence (34.6/52), Hartford (20.8/32), Fort Myers (11.9/19), Kansas City (11.1/18), Richmond (11.0/16), Memphis (10.4/15), Greensboro (10.3/15), and Cincinnati (10.1/16) round out the top ten markets for Wednesday night’s broadcast.

MLB Network will have a strong presence throughout the upcoming World Series in both Boston and St. Louis.

Here are the details from MLB Network PR:

· Two-hour editions of MLB Tonight presented by Bacardi OakHeart will air live at 3:00 p.m. ET and 6:00 p.m. ET on the day of each game, plus a live one-hour recap show after every game. MLB Tonight’s on-site coverage from Boston and St. Louis will be anchored by Greg Amsinger and Brian Kenny with analysis from Sean Casey, 1993 and 1997 World Series champion Al Leiter, two-time World Series champion and MVP of the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox Mike Lowell, Dan Plesac,Harold Reynolds, 1995 World Series champion John Smoltz, Mitch Williams and Tom Verducci, who is covering his 27th World Series.

· Studio coverage during MLB Tonight throughout the World Series will be anchored by Fran Charles, Paul Severino and Matt Yallof with analysis from 1980 World Series World Champion Larry Bowa, Eric Byrnes, Darryl Hamilton, Joe Magrane, Bill Ripken and Dave Valle.

· Kevin Millar, a 2004 World Series champion with the Red Sox, and Chris Rose will interview MLB players and celebrities as they co-host Intentional Talk presented by Jack Honey on the road every day live at 5:00 p.m. ET throughout the World Series.

· Hall of Fame award-winning baseball writer Peter Gammons, who is covering his 41st World Series, Sam Ryan and Heidi Watney will report from each ballpark throughout the World Series.

· On off-days, MLB Tonight will air live at 6:00 p.m. ET, while MLB Network’s Path to the Championship will recap the latest World Series results.

Even though ESPN does not have the television rights to the World Series, it will have a strong presence at this year’s Fall Classic.

Baseball Tonight will report on the road for the World Series, beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with a World Series preview show at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Baseball Tonight will air before and after most World Series games (generally at 7 p.m. and midnight) with Karl Ravech, Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, John Kruk, Curt Schilling, Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian providing analysis and commentary.

ESPN Radio does have the radio broadcast rights to the World Series. Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser will call each game of the series.

ESPN.com will also be on site with contributors including ESPN MLB Insiders Olney, Kurkjian, Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Jim Caple and Jim Bowden. It will also create and maintain a dedicated World Series page with extensive game coverage, news, analysis, scouting reports, expert predictions, polls, videos and statistics;

Hurricane Sandy battered the eastern seaboard but did not deter us from producing a new Sports Media Weekly.

Our scheduled guest could not join us due to him being from the New York/New Jersey area, so Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and I are riding solo.

We begin the program by looking at the record low ratings for Fox Sports on the Giants’ four game sweep of the World Series. Even though the viewership numbers were steady, the average rating of 7.6 was the lowest ever.

We then look at the big news that NBC Sports has secured the rights to English Premier League soccer beginning next season. We discuss what the move means for NBC as well as incumbents Fox and ESPN.

We move on to the NBA season beginning tonight and our expectations for TNT, ESPN, and NBA TV this year.

We wrap-up the show on the news, broken by Ken a few weeks ago, that the Dan Patrick Radio Show will be simulcast on the NBC Sports Network beginning on Monday at 9:00a.m. ET.

Baseball’s World Series beat out the NFL in the Sunday night ratings war.

Last night’s game 4 of the World Series on Fox between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers scored a 10.1 over night rating, besting the Sunday Night Football (SNF) telecast of the Indianapolis Colts at the New Orleans Saints on NBC. The NFL match-up, which was a Saints blowout, garnered a rating of 8.2.

When the two events went head-to-head last year, SNF came out on top with a rating of 11.6 (Steelers/Saints) compared to the World Series’ 10.4 (Rangers/Giants).

After a week off, Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites rejoins me for this week’s podcast.

We begin the show by looking at the World Series and the potential of it being one of the lowest rated Fall Classics ever. We keep with the baseball talk to discuss the coverage in New England of the aftermath of the collapse by the Boston Red Sox.

We also handicap who, among ESPN, NBC, and Fox, will likely be awarded the rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup when FIFA announces the winner later this week.

Our guest this week is Ian Eagle of CBS Sports, Tennis Channel, Yes Network, and Westwood One. Ian talks about how his schedule has changed since he’s had to take time off from being the voice of the New Jersey Nets due to the NBA lockout. Ian also talks about the current NFL season to date, his ability to remain a flexible personality, and his summer sportscasters camp.